Qantas Reward flight changes more than 24hrs - Options?

[tomasp]

Hi all,

My wife and I booked reward flights through Qantas, almost a year ago to fly PER to SFO 19th Apr via HKG with Cathay in business. I am a Gold Qantas FF.

Our flights have been changed a number of times along the way, gradually increasing the layover from 4hrs to 12hrs. But as of last night we've received notification our outbound flight has changed again and this time to depart almost a day and half later (I.e. from Thur 19th midday originally, to now 00:50 on the Sun 22nd). This is obviously not good enough as we'll be landing a day and a half later in SFO, and already have tours and accommodation booked.

Just wondering what our options are when I call Qantas and what I should be pushing for? Surely they have an obligation to get us there when we planned. Add to the fact the added issues with then flying to USA when you've been in HK/China for longer than 24hrs - we can't possibly stay in the airport that whole time.

We don't particularly care if we fly via HK, Singapore, Japan or elsewhere, we just want to get there the day we were meant to, and flying business with Oneworld (as it's our honeymoon we had to cancel during COVID and finally rebooked).

Any advise would be immensely appreciated!!

Thank you in advance

 

[tomasp]

So an update the my situation. I was on a call for quite some time with the Qantas team. I held my ground strongly and advised it wasn't good enough, asked to escalate a number of times (which they refused) but eventually put on hold and the Customer Service Rep came back to me, stating that they have requested a ticket to be opened up on another Cathay flight, on the same day (20th Apr) at an earlier time. They said it isn't guaranteed but that they have requested a ticket - so I shouldn't "review and accept" the changes on the 2 day later flight just yet.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it actually legit or should I call back again and try and push something else? I'm just worried about losing the entire flight if I don't "review and accept" in time and this request for the same day flight doesn't come through?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

 

[RooFlyer]

Surely they have an obligation to get us there when we planned.

i’m afraid they don’t. Timing of flights is not a condition carriage. It sucks, but that’s the way it is.

Has anyone else had this happen?

if you look around the Qantas forum here on AFF, you’ll see it’s happened innumerable times over the past year also. The main problem is the Qantas call centres who are either unable or unwilling to try and fix the problem with changes to award flights on partners.

keep calling and hold your ground, but also review some of the other threads to see other ways of dealing with this.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful but it’s simply not an uncommon problem with Qantas these days

 

[tomasp]

i’m afraid they don’t. Timing of flights is not a condition carriage. It sucks, but that’s the way it is.


if you look around the Qantas forum here on AFF, you’ll see it’s happened innumerable times over the past year also. The main problem is the Qantas call centres who are either unable or unwilling to try and fix the problem with changes to award flights on partners.

keep calling and hold your ground, but also review some of the other threads to see other ways of dealing with this.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful but it’s simply not an uncommon problem with Qantas these days

If i'm waiting to for them to hear back on the requested change and opening of 2 business tickets on the earlier flight, am I at risk if I haven't clicked the "Review and accept changes" button in the email from them for the 2 days later flight that it was changed to?

Don't want to end up with no flights at all.

The other issue is - while we might be able to make the timing work, we would now be in HK for more than 24hrs which presents some more hurdles and restrictions when trying to enter the USA - given we spent time in "china"

 

[Brissy1]

If i'm waiting to for them to hear back on the requested change and opening of 2 business tickets on the earlier flight, am I at risk if I haven't clicked the "Review and accept changes" button in the email from them for the 2 days later flight that it was changed to?

Don't want to end up with no flights at all.

The other issue is - while we might be able to make the timing work, we would now be in HK for more than 24hrs which presents some more hurdles and restrictions when trying to enter the USA - given we spent time in "china"

I've never had any problem "accepting changes" months after notification, but that's no guarantee of course. Supposedly a big Qfa rewards seat release Fri, you might luck better flights then and then cancel current booking, with a full refund entitlement.

 

[RooFlyer]

t, am I at risk if I haven't clicked the "Review and accept changes" button in the email from them for the 2 days later flight that it was changed to?

no risk to accept it if that’s what you want, but if you accept it, you won’t be able to use any further changes you’ve requested.

The other issue is - while we might be able to make the timing work, we would now be in HK for more than 24hrs which presents some more hurdles and restrictions when trying to enter the USA - given we spent time in "china"

This really comes down to what you prepared to accept risk wise. But I should say that others would have more experience in this situation, so maybe they'll chime in.

You apparently have an offer of a flight which is late and makes you arrive in Hong Kong with a later departure for the USA with the problems that apparently brings.

I would wait to see what comes in through an offer but again, others may have better advice.

One last thing. If they say they have a flight solution, remain vigilant that you receive an e-ticket with a 081- ticket number. Until you receive this, it's just a promise.

 

[tomasp]

I might leave it a day and then call them again to harass further tomorrow.

Summary of what happened is as follows:

1. Original Booking:
CX142 PER-HKG on 20 Apr & Arrive 14:50
CX892 HKG-SFO on 20 Apr Dep 19:55 & arrive in SFO on 20 Apr 17:30

2. Flight changed by Qantas (accepted by us) to:
CX170 PER-HKG on 19 Apr & Arrive 20 Apr 07:30
CX892 HKG-SFO on 20 Apr Dep 19:55 & arrive in SFO on 20 Apr 17:30

3. Now the new flight which has been changed by Qantas (NOT accepted by us):
CX170 PER-HKG on 19 Apr & Arrive 20 Apr 07:30
CX872 HKG-SFO on 22 Apr Dep 00:50 & arrive in SFO on 21 Apr 22:20

Obviously as a result of this, we have not only lost 1.5 days in SFO, but the accommodation and tours which have already been paid for will be impacted. Add on top of this new accommodation needed for Hong Kong (which we didn't even want to visit in the first place). Also due being in HKG more than 24 hours would require PCR tests prior to departure and a whole raft of other restrictions.

So not only do we lose out money, we lose out experiences we had already planned and booked in SFO and potentially run into the risks of not being allowed into USA in any case due to travel restrictions.... Not happy

 

[TomVexille]

Unfortunately I think your chances are extremely slim. CX aren't selling any non-stop seats HKG-SFO on either 20 or 21 April.
I'd be asking them to potentially re-route via LAX

 

[algae]

I also had a similar situation with Perth to Toronto via HKG on CX for a flight in late April.

I've been watching their flight timetables and have known for months that the HKG to Toronto flight didn't actually exist.

Yesterday they finally moved both my flights forward by 24h. Actually improves my connection in HKG from 9h to 3h.

But since I knew it was coming I'd booked all accommodation flexible.

Just one of the perks on travelling these days

 

[Matt_01]

@tomasp you seem to be between a rock and a hard place. I am only assuming when you booked the original flights HKG was still in lockdown with no signs of re-opening and CX reward flights were easy to get, for me that would have been reason 1 not to book CX. You mention QF Gold status but in the bigger scheme of things gold status means diddly squat to QF. As @RooFlyer mentioned there have been many reported situations similar to yours and from higher status PAX. The QF Platinums and above get through to to the CC agents quicker and in most cases the staff are better trained to deal with issues. As for accepting changes and the time frame it can be up to the carrier as to when they cancel the flight. I was notified around 6 weeks ago by QF that MH had changed the flight and I ran the gauntlet on accepting changes, last Friday I noticed the MH bookings had disappeared from my account and a quick call to the VIP confirmed that MH had cancelled the flights. The VIP team said they would put in a request to get the seats back and I was not holding my breath thinking they would be, but they were, stranger things have happened.

As I see it your options maybe:

• To ask the CC agent to send a request to the OW desk for help and/or switch you to another carrier.
• Reroute via the eastern seaboard in AU to overcome the delayed stay in HKG.
• Get in contact with the hotel and tour operators to see understand what arrangements can be put in place.

cough like this happens with normal points travel, covid and country shut downs add a whole new mix of problems.

 

[Flyfrequently]

I might leave it a day and then call them again to harass further tomorrow.

Summary of what happened is as follows:

1. Original Booking:
CX142 PER-HKG on 20 Apr & Arrive 14:50
CX892 HKG-SFO on 20 Apr Dep 19:55 & arrive in SFO on 20 Apr 17:30

2. Flight changed by Qantas (accepted by us) to:
CX170 PER-HKG on 19 Apr & Arrive 20 Apr 07:30
CX892 HKG-SFO on 20 Apr Dep 19:55 & arrive in SFO on 20 Apr 17:30

3. Now the new flight which has been changed by Qantas (NOT accepted by us):
CX170 PER-HKG on 19 Apr & Arrive 20 Apr 07:30
CX872 HKG-SFO on 22 Apr Dep 00:50 & arrive in SFO on 21 Apr 22:20

Obviously as a result of this, we have not only lost 1.5 days in SFO, but the accommodation and tours which have already been paid for will be impacted. Add on top of this new accommodation needed for Hong Kong (which we didn't even want to visit in the first place). Also due being in HKG more than 24 hours would require PCR tests prior to departure and a whole raft of other restrictions.

So not only do we lose out money, we lose out experiences we had already planned and booked in SFO and potentially run into the risks of not being allowed into USA in any case due to travel restrictions.... Not happy

@tomasp
Not sure where you ate at, but many restrictions have been lifted recently.
Hopefully things are sorted for you now

 

[RichardMEL]

Just to be clear that these flights were not changed by QF, but changed by CX clearly.

that minor detail aside it is very frustrating indeed specially with only two weeks till departure. good luck

 

[tomasp]

@tomasp
Not sure where you ate at, but many restrictions have been lifted recently.
Hopefully things are sorted for you now

Thanks for reaching out!

At this stage "fingers crossed" we should still be flying out on the 19th April. We've had a fair few issues since then, but luckily all resolved. Most stemmed from CX cancelling that original flight and re-booking us onto another flight which we later found out was already marked for cancellation. How they can re-book us onto a cancelled flight is beyond me, but it happened. This was done by a QF call centre member.

As a result of this, tickets weren't issued in time and our DPS - KLIA and KLIA - PER flights were dropped as were the JFK - DOH portion (yet for some reason DOH - DPS remained on our booking). Fast forward a few very anxious and annoyed weeks and we finally got resolution however instead of the PER - HKG - SFO flight, we are now flying:

PER - SIN on QF with 8hr layover
SIN - HKG on CX with 2 day layover
HKG - SFO on CX as originally booked.

Then instead of JFK - DOH with 8 hour layover, we now have to fly out earlier in the day and do JFK - DOH with a 20hr layover!!

Annoying, but at this stage I'm just glad we have all our flights confirmed in J....

*** Edit*** And yes, we did see about the restrictions into and out of HKG and into the states have all been lifted, so we are VERY relieved about that as it should somewhat de-risk our flights.